I have never been to Phoenix, but a few months ago while riding the VTA light rail in San Jose (which actually extends as far as Mountain View, Milpitas, and Campbell), I met a woman who had recently moved from Phoenix and was amazed by the VTA system. Apparently the light rail system in Phoenix is so small that it's not particularly useful unless you live downtown.

Not that VTA is without fault, of course. You can, for example, use the light rail to get from South San Jose to Mountain View and avoid the hour-and-a-half-long traffic jams that often ensue along Highways 101 and 280, but the light rail has so many stops along the way that it takes an hour and a half to get there anyway.

Samurai swords are a good weapon in the right circumstances. I'm surprised he had the room to draw on a train. Personally I feel uncomfortable with the range you have to get to - very close to your opponent for any effective sword cut or flourish.

The_EliteOne:Samurai swords are a good weapon in the right circumstances. I'm surprised he had the room to draw on a train. Personally I feel uncomfortable with the range you have to get to - very close to your opponent for any effective sword cut or flourish.

It would depend on the form he used. Aikido, which borrows very much from Bushido, teaches some very good CQC with a full sized katana. That said, if a tanto or wakizashi was available I would use that instead.

I was wrong about the state law, which covers switchblades and many other sharp and blunt objects but not swords. However, Boston has a knife ordinance which prohibits carrying a sword without a legitimate recreational or culinary reason.

You see the same attitude towards gun permits in many cities and towns. Permits are issued in the sole discretion of the police chief. (For practical purposes that's true; technically you can sue if he's dumb enough to admit denying your application for an improper reason.) The permit you want is "all lawful purposes," allowing you to carry anywhere guns are not explicitly prohibited. The permit you get is likely to be limited to carrying to and from target practice.

anfrind:BitwiseShift: Phoenix Arizona has light rail. Who would have guessed?

Does Sheriff Joe know about this and is he alright with it?

I have never been to Phoenix, but a few months ago while riding the VTA light rail in San Jose (which actually extends as far as Mountain View, Milpitas, and Campbell), I met a woman who had recently moved from Phoenix and was amazed by the VTA system. Apparently the light rail system in Phoenix is so small that it's not particularly useful unless you live downtown.

Not that VTA is without fault, of course. You can, for example, use the light rail to get from South San Jose to Mountain View and avoid the hour-and-a-half-long traffic jams that often ensue along Highways 101 and 280, but the light rail has so many stops along the way that it takes an hour and a half to get there anyway.

Yeah. The light rail in phx goes for some twenty miles. But it is just one line that goes through downtown. The nicer suburbs had a chance to be apart of the light trail, but opted out. Seems they didn't want public transportation to connect them to phx and mesa.

Bedstead Polisher:Are Samurai swords that common? They seem to make an appearance in news stories quite often.

Real ones are not common and very rare outside of Japan. But mass produced replicas very are quite common. A replica may not slice straight though a body like a real, hand crafted katana, but it'll still do the job against your basic thug.

He handled the blade pretty well. Held it correctly for poking/prodding in tight, enclosed spaces (entendre intended) and for exiting/entering a doorway. Still, though, knife to a gunfight and all that. Most people who draw swords in public end up getting shot by someone. This guy just got lucky.

Ambivalence:Bedstead Polisher: Are Samurai swords that common? They seem to make an appearance in news stories quite often.

Real ones are not common and very rare outside of Japan. But mass produced replicas very are quite common. A replica may not slice straight though a body like a real, hand crafted katana, but it'll still do the job against your basic thug.

Not so. Huge numbers of blades both antique and military were brought back from WW2 and thepost-war occupation of Japan by American servicemen. And a decent steel replica will still carve up human anatomy like a halloween pumpkin. It's amazing how soft bodies actually are.